Week 5

Grade Level Kindergarten NAME Becca Leslie Art 309 Reflections and Thoughts about Teaching Saturday #5 Community Overall reflections about the first Saturday class experience:
In the space below, briefly address two or three of the following: Select a key point on which you wish to reflect. (e. g., student behaviors, awareness of school, a successful lesson) What Ive learned about myself.. What Ive learned about the students What Ive learned about teaching. I feel good about. I am frustrated by I am going to work on..

REFLECTIONS The last Saturday went well! The students enjoyed the set induction and reading Swimmy. They understood teamwork and community, but when it was time to apply community (making the underwater mural) the students were distracted by their parents coming in so the transition was a little rough, and could have been more clear. The underwater collaged creatures were really cool, and they successfully drew their own creatures instead of using the templates that we had as back up! After teaching for the last 5 weeks, I was reminded of why Im becoming an art teacher! Its easy to forget why we do all of the stuff we do in classes.

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GUIDED QUESTIONS Briefly address EACH of the following: 1. Describe your favorite part of the Community lesson. My favorite part of the Community lesson was the set induction. We did a blind obstacle course to learn about team work. The kids were really funny, and got into it. One student was really apprehensive about putting a blind fold on, so I let him guide me through and he was so happy about it. 2. Describe your interactions with parents. Parents were coming in and out from siblings classrooms for the most part. Almost all of them worked with their kid, and some even made their own sea creature. At the end of class, it was hard to get everyones attention for closure because the students were so excited to show their parents their artwork outside. 3. Comment on your display of student work. We grouped each students work together, 2 students per table. I hung the recycled windchimes from the ceiling above, and arranged everything else around it below. We chose to use brown butcher paper to cover the table and wall space behind because its the least distracting from the art. 4. If you could teach this lesson again, what changes would you make? I would figure out a way to get John out of his shell. He is very particular about the way he does things, and is set in his decisions. 5. If you integrated another subject with this lesson, please describe how it worked. We integrated language arts in this lesson. We read Swimmy by Leo Lionni, and asked leading questions about the storyline to check comprehension, and leading questions about examples of team work leading to the idea of community. 6. How many children did you teach: First 3 weeks: Second 2 weeks: Grade __3___ # of students__6_____ Grade __k___ # of students__6_____

7. I felt most comfortable teaching_3rd_grade because 8. I felt less comfortable teaching _K_grade because I cant put my finger on it. 9. Planning/working/teaching with other art education majors was . . . . It was interesting. Working in groups is always kind of difficult, especially since we are so busy this semester. Overall, I had no problems with my partners, scheduling was kind of tough, but it helped a lot to brainstorm and bounce ideas off of each other. 10. Interacting with children and leading discussions were . . . . I could talk to little kids all day. Leading discussions went well. I noticed it was helpful to have a list of questions that asked the same thing, just worded differently. It helped when the students were having a hard time thinking of answers, it was easy to be clear and elaborate.

11. I believe I encouraged/enhanced/explored creativity the most with the children by. . . . I think being silly with the students makes it easy for them to be creative. That way they dont have to worry about being the silliest in the class. 12. The most helpful activity/assistance provided by the art 309 faculty and graduate students was. . . . . I really liked the set induction activity. It showed us a successful set induction from the other side, and made it easier for me to think of set induction ideas that were interactive. 13. The most beneficial activity in PREPARING for Saturday Classes was . . . . . Working with kids as much as possible, just to become more comfortable around them. 14. The most beneficial activity/experience/assistance during the TEACHING TIME was . . . The time line helped a lot! One week I didnt make one and felt lost without it. 15. The BEST part of the Saturday Class experience was . . . . The best part was hearing the students recall the information we taught them, and say how they applied it. Also, kids laughing really hard at my jokes that no one else would ever think was funny. 16. What was the most significant personal achievement gained from the Saturday Art class experience? After teaching Saturday class, I was reminded why I am going to be an art teacher! Teaching makes all of the other stuff worth it.